Taiwan condemns Russia over remarks related to Taiwanese boxer's gender

Taipei, Aug. 9 (CNA) Taiwan on Friday condemned Russia after its ambassador to the United Nations brought up an Olympic boxing gender row focused on the gender of two female competitors, including Lin Yu-ting (林郁婷) of Taiwan.

In a statement, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said it condemned the remarks made by Deputy Russian U.N. Ambassador Dmitry Polyanskiy during a meeting of the body focused on women, peace and security on Wednesday.

According to a Reuters report, Polyanskiy accused western countries of monopolizing the Olympic movement and "aggressively" imposing an LGBT agenda on the rest of the world.

"At the Olympic Games in Paris, female boxers are being publicly subjected to violence (by) athletes who had previously failed hormonal tests done by the International Boxing Federation [IBA] and, according to the Federation and according to common sense, are men," he was quoted as saying in the report.

Lin's eligibility in the Olympics has been confirmed by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), MOFA said, and slammed the IBA as having lost its credibility on the international stage.

This is the second consecutive Olympics in which the IBA has not managed the boxing events. The IOC suspended the association in 2019 and revoked its recognition in 2023 due to corruption scandals and financial mismanagement.

MOFA said Polyanskiy arbitrarily cited false accusations made by the IBA without verification, and abused the Security Council venue to present falsehoods that have nothing to do with maintaining international peace and security.

This fully demonstrates Russia's disregard for international rules and justice while intentionally using its political influence to affect Olympic events, it said.

MOFA also called on the international community to unite in jointly safeguarding the Olympic spirit of "friendship, unity, and fair competition."

President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) and Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) have publicly expressed their support of the Taiwanese boxer.

Lin and Imane Khelif of Algeria have been subjected to abuse on social media and inaccurate online speculation about their gender, including from J.K. Rowling, the author of the "Harry Potter" series.

The IBA and its president, Umar Kremlev from Russia, have continued to make allegations about the gender of the two boxers after disqualifying them from the 2023 IBA Women's World Boxing Championships over opaque eligibility tests.

The IOC has called these attacks "dangerous, misogynistic and baseless."